Getting started with the LMS
The LMS delivers training, tracks who has completed what, and certifies it. Content is organised in a fixed hierarchy, and understanding that hierarchy is most of understanding the module.
Where: LMS You need: LMS rights — team learning and content building are separate from taking a course
The hierarchy
learning path → course → module → content or assessment
| Level | Is |
|---|---|
| Learning path | A programme of courses, with a difficulty and a status |
| Course | A subject within the path |
| Module | A single lesson |
| Module content | The material — a paragraph, a document, a video or an external link |
| Module assessment | An optional test at the end of a module |
Courses sit in paths in a defined order, and modules sit in courses in a defined order. That ordering is what makes a path a programme rather than a folder of material.
The two sides of the module
| For | Where | |
|---|---|---|
| My Learning | Learners taking courses | LMS › My learning |
| Team Learning | Managers and administrators — building content, enrolling people, tracking progress | LMS › Team learning |
How enrolment works
An enrolment connects a learner to a learning path, and it records where they have got to:
| Status | Means |
|---|---|
| Not started | Enrolled, no progress |
| In progress | Under way |
| Completed | Finished |
Each module within it carries the same three states, so progress is visible per lesson rather than only per path.
Enrolments have a source — either admin (someone assigned it) or self (the learner chose it). That distinction is worth keeping in mind when reading completion rates: mandatory training and optional training are different things, and the source is how you tell them apart.
Where to go next
Taking courses
Building content
Managing
What Happens Next
- Enrolled learners see their paths in My Learning.
- Progress is recorded per module as they work through.
- Completing a path can issue a certificate, if one is configured.
Tips
- Design the path before building modules. The order is the curriculum, and reordering after people have started is disruptive.
- Keep modules short. One idea per module works far better than one long module per subject, and progress tracking becomes meaningful.
- Decide what is mandatory and assign it as an admin enrolment, so completion rates mean something.
- Do not put the only copy of anything important in an external link. Links rot, and a path is only as durable as its content.